Triple Trouble

It's 6 am on a Sunday morning and I'm a mess.

I smell terrible.
Snot runs down my nose and onto my lips and I don't even care.
I'm crying and sobbing uncontrollably as I peg-leg in 2 mile increments.
My right leg stopped working 6 hours ago.

The mummy bag wrapped around my body keeps me warm in the unseasonably cold 43 degree Virginia morning. I look like a crippled Snapple fruit.
A crippled, frustrated, angry, disappointed... Snapple Fruit.

I "walk" past a camera crew and pull the mummy bag over my face. I can't even look at the photographer, but I can feel his eyes on me. Must be thinking "That poor bastard".

I've never felt so low, and there's no way someone's going to capture this moment.
Hard to believe that, up until 6 hours ago, I was clicking miles off almost effortlessly after no sleep for 40 hours.

Welcome to Ultra Distance Triathlon.
A handful of people in the world.
Number of races in the world: count them on your hands, and MAYBE take one shoe off.
They range from Double Iron to Deca Iron distance, although a select number of people(literally a couple) have done 20 Irons at one go.

This one's the Virginia Triple Iron.
7.2 Mile Swim, 336 mile bike, 78.6 Mile Run
46 hours ago, 20 of us lined up on a beach posted with a sign that said "no swimming".
Ironic.


We plunge into the water, but noone's in a hurry.
No point rushing when you're doing a 60 hour event.
The water is fairly calm, but that doesn't last long. As the morning wears on, boat traffic on Lake Anna picks up. Worse, the wind picks up.
Next thing we know, we're swimming through white caps....
The .4 mile swim course is a loop that parallels the beach, and the waves are so bad that you can only breathe on the beach side, or risk lungfuls of water. I remember thinking..If this is any bearing on the rest of the event, it's going to be a long weekend.

4 hours into the swim, I'm scraping sand with my hands...what the heck?!
The waves have started moving the buoys toward shore.
Common sense says the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, which means I can safely say I'm swimming much longer than 7.2 miles while goose-chasing buoys.
On the bike later that day, veterans would tell me that it was the roughest swim they'd ever had at Lake Anna. Ocean-esque.

Exiting the water in a longer-than-anticipated 5 and a half hours, I'm a little dizzy, which is normal, given the length of time in near-weightlessness and rough water.
I make my way to the row of tents that I would come to call Tent City. Each athlete gets a tent to store their gear and food. It's basically a base camp of sorts.
We would pass these shelters a million times on the loop courses of bike and run, and at each pass, we would receive food and drink from our crew.

After a couple timing chip issues(mine wouldn't work) that cost a little over a half hour, I'm on the bike. I didn't anticipate the feeling of holding myself up on the bike after swimming for so long. I feel so weak. My legs are toast. How am I going to stay upright and pedal for 24 hours or more? Self doubt is already creeping in. Time for an attitude adjustment.
I have a strategy for these times...
Whenever I feel less than positive, I eat everything.
Fruit. Comfort food. Sweets. Coffee. Evvvvverything.
Sarah, Sperv, and the parents did an awesome job....almost too awesome. I would leave Tent City sometimes with not enough hands to hold the food. Jeez, each lap only takes 20 minutes! I didn't need all that! Great job!

The Friday afternoon flies by, and soon night is falling. My body is starting to come around after 5 hours on the bike and eating everything.
I am positive again.
I always have this feeling of contentment when night comes. You just come to this realization that you're going to be out here alllll night. Might as well settle in and just get into the zone, and start clicking off miles.
Dad and Justin strap on the light, and I'm gone.

The night blurs together in my memory.
Some hours were hard. Some hours were easy.
Some laps you had to change batteries or lights.
I got to this point where I could tell who was coming at me just by the lights on their bike.

3am hits, and most of the veterans are asking if I've slept yet.
I take that as a cue to hit the tent for an hour and a half, even though I don't feel especially tired. The idea, apparently, is to hit the hay before the sun comes up. The Double Iron athletes(which are to start this morning) would begin arriving and making a raucous.

I hit the tent at 3:30, get an amazing massage from Sarah for a few minutes, then lay in the tent, awake, for the next hour and a half.
In the dark, I "watch" little circular mouths with teeth all around them and tongues sticking out swirl in a kaleidoscope pattern on the ceiling of the tent.
I'd heard about hallucinations, but had never had them until tonight.
I can't help but watch with a strange fascination, being conscious enough to know what they are, but just alert enough to wonder if I should be worried. These would be the only ones for the entire race.

The zzzzzzziiiiiiiipppppppp of the tent at 5 AM comes way too soon.
Justin pops his head in.."Time to get going".

I ask for 10 more minutes... as if 10 more minutes is really going to make me feel better after I've been racing for 20 hours. My body already feels trashed.

By this time, my parents have arrived.

I pull myself out of the tent, and everyone's staring at me. My eyes are blood red and barely open. I'm stiff and tired. I know how bad I look because noone's saying anything. Awful is not the word to describe how I feel. It's easily 100 times worse than I felt before I laid down.

To top it off, I am feeling sorry for myself because I know that I just blew my only chance to get sleep- probably for the rest of the event.
Justin is the crew leader for a reason. He realizes the shit is hitting the fan and basically forces me back on the bike. It's 5AM, give or take.

I spend the next 2 and half hours riding in the dark(figuratively and literally) in absolute misery...planning ways to quit, and eating everything in sight. I know the pending sunrise will lift my spirits. It's a lesson I learned from my Presque Isle to Bangor ride one night...but it seems as though the sun will not come up. These hours are the longest hours of my life.

At 9AM, I'm back in what I've come to call Kale's Manic Mode. I'm always a little too happy when I workout. This is no different today, with Sperv and Sarah screaming like crazy on every lap. They also have Manic Mode of cheering.. I mean who else can cheer for 40 hours straight? Crazy.

By this time, we have our system for fueling down, and there are no stops, just fluid (pun intended) transfers. My ass did not leave the saddle from 5am to 5 PM Saturday, when I finished the bike ride. At one point around 12 or 1PM, the officials miscount my laps.

I'm like 280 miles in, and it's the last thing I need to hear. I am so pissed off that I put my head down and start ripping off laps. I know it isn't rational while I'm doing it, but I am so beside myself with anger that it is the only way to vent. My fastest laps of the bike ride are from miles 280 to 336.

I get a quick shower after the ride, and change into my running clothes, and it's back to work.

By the time I down a couple cheeseburgers and blast 6 or 8 miles out, the sun is setting. The calmness I was talking about earlier comes over me and it's time to settle in and start plowing through some miles. My parents surprise me with Dominoes pizza. I grab 2 slices, stack them one on top of the other and eat them on the go. Best pizza ever. Thanks, Dominoes.

The 2 mile out and back is pretty much uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. The temperature is dropping hard into the 40s...a stark contrast to Friday's high 80s. People are bundled up, but man, it feels normal to me. Feels good. The miles are blazing by. I'm high on coffee, food, and the spirit of the race. Tent City is lit up and it's awesome to come back in for a morale boost every 20 minutes or so.

I hit the marathon mark, and I feel better than I have the entire race. Meanwhile, the carnage is starting to show for some. I pull up to one guy who's staggering. He's drooling on himself, and proceeds to tell me that he has 14 pairs of shoes....and I never asked him anything. I say hi to almost everyone I pass, but few return the greeting. Maybe it's because I've said hi to them every 20 minutes for the last 40 hours. I bet they hate me. Haha. Manic Mode, bitches.

A few miles later, I feel mentally fresh, but I am starting to stiffen a little bit. A mixture of the cold and sheer volume of the race is taking its toll on my legs. I always do butt kicks to loosen up during ultramarathons, so I do a few. After running a little bit, I realize something's not right. My right quadricep is so tight. What's going on? I half run, half walk back to Tent City and sit down. Sarah and Sperv feed me. Justin can tell I'm thinking hard. "What's up?"

"My quad's messed up."

He makes me walk a lap and goes with me. Maybe it'll loosen up....right? Wrong.

Eileen Steil happens to be crewing for Michael Gaertner, a past Deca Iron winner, in the shelter next to mine. She's a massage therapist and one of the only American ladies to finish the Deca. She comes over and has me get on her table. She tapes me up and we go walking up the road for a lap.

I can barely even walk now. It hurts to pick my foot up off the ground. It hurts to even move my leg a centimeter. It's decision time. The doctor looks at it. Probably a strain...and probably shouldn't keep going and turn it into a tear. It's early morning on Sunday...like 1am. I decide to hit the sack and wake up in a few hours to make a coherent decision.

When I wake up the sun is rising. I keep my sleeping bag on, don't say anything to anyone and start walking. Justin comes along.

A mile in, and I know it's over. I have an angel on one shoulder telling me I did well just to go this far. I have a demon on the other telling me I have to now go home and tell people I couldn't make it. I couldn't even look at the timers when I handed them my chip because I knew I would lose it.

I found it very difficult to cope with the abrupt end of my race. I never expected it that way. Before the race, I figured that if I was going to DNF, it would be because of outright fatigue.

So much learned. I now know what to expect. I know what I need to work on. Some would let a DNF ruin them. Some would dwell on it.

I'll dwell on it, alright. I'll let it simmer and motivate me all winter long.

Here's to Progression.

To the Hunt.

krp

Quintuple Your Pleasure, Quintuple Your Fun

I realized I haven't updated in a couple weeks.

This is the time of year that weird stuff just materializes.
You think you've got your schedule planned out, and then something new hits you right in the teeth.

My recovery is fine. I'd say I'm 90 percent. I need to get flexible to make it to 100%.
I'm pretty tight still.

You may have read the sidebar, but let me fill you in.
I was content on going back to Virginia for the Triple, but then I get an email from Pete(deca dude, as I have come to call him in the blog):
"Wanna race Monterrey next year?"

Ummm....YES.
So I do some thinking and scheming.
I bounce the idea off Eileen Steil, one of the only American ladies to ever finish the Deca.
We come to the conclusion that I'm too young for the Deca...but not for the Quin.

I'll be 27 next year. Still a solid 10 years off of peak.
There's a chance, if I am smart, that I can really do ok at this Ultra triathlon thing.
Who knows.

Some new developments:
-Sponsors are coming in slowly. Rocky Mountain has given me a great deal and terms on a bike frame, as well as some pretty amazing clothing.
-now going to Northern Physical Therapy 5 days a week to work out and do injury prevention.
-Beginning to work with a nutritionist so that I can get everything I need to out of my diet.

I guess things are coming together pretty early, which is a good sign.
This morning I had a moment of hesitation....is it too early to be "in the zone"?
Then I remembered one of my favorite quotes of all time:
"There is no such thing as burnout...just loss of appetite."
Wish I could remember who said that.

I don't think there's a worry for loss of appetite.
There are a few goals that I won't be posting on here that are keeping me quite hungry.
Big things.

Never in a million years when I started this triathlon thing did think I would be even considering races like these.
I feel very blessed to be supported by so many amazing people.
The caliber of people around me is top notch, and I could never be doing what I am doing now without the circle of friends that I have.
Thank You.

krp

Win Win

Lots of exciting things going on this week.

Got two good runs in this week.
The first 40 minute run was interesting. Felt rusty and lots of weird kinks.
Tonight's 45 minute run was amazing. Effortless.
I need to share this.
The world of pain I went into during the triple has upped the ante. I can't explain it, but I felt so different out there tonight.
A new confidence or something. The pain threshold has been raised. I want to test it so badly, but I know its too early for that.

Bob, the store's Rocky Mountain rep is checking into getting me a new bike frame. Carbon. Sexy. This is long overdue...my bikes pushing 10 years old!

So ready to dive back in.

It feels so good to be back.


kp

Holding Down the Human Torch

I'm going nuts.

There's this void that needs to be filled.
While I have recommitted to training, that training is not even close to fulfilling the needs of my addictive personality.
1 Hour walks just don't cut it.
3x per week at PT for 2 hours doesn't do it for me, either.

Something's gotta tire me out.
Something's gotta get me outside of myself.

I'm turning to the wrong things right now. Gross food. Beer like crazy.
In short, I'm being a slob.
Real, mind-clearing training- the thing that ties my life together- is not there.

I thought I'd be past this mental point..pushing on 3 weeks out from the Triple.
Truth is, my frustration is starting to get worse every day.

I want it so bad and I can't have it.
It's like there's this fire just waiting for the right amount oxygen to turn into a full-blown explosion.

Maybe, this is exactly what I need to take things to the next level.
It's tattooed on my skin.

"Don't waste the fire."

I will not be held down.

Cause and Effect

Took a walk last night. 45 mins.
Kept a cadence of 80-90 on stationary bike for 12 minutes this morning.

I'd say I'm on the comeback trail.
I know that recovery is not linear, so I expect a setback or two over the next few weeks.

Life is good, for the most part.

In setting up my race schedule for the next 2 years, I've come to the realization that I need sponsors, or take the pauper lifestyle to the next level.
I hate asking for money from people. Hate it.
I feel like me asking for money to go race is like someone asking for sponsorship to go to the bar on the weekends. How is it different? Both are recreational activities.

I think I need a cause.

There are times when I think what I do is very selfish. These events are all about me, and I so hate that idea. I've been given the mental and physical ability to do super-distance races.. I should be doing it for good reason.

If I had a cause, I wouldn't feel bad asking for money, and I would be helping a little bit too.

I sure am rambling.

Anyhow, I have the Triple on tap for next year as my "A" Priority race.
However, my grand focus will be the DecaIron in 2011. Only a handful of Americans (under 10) have finished. In case you're wondering, that's 10 Ironmans in 10 days.
Hopefully, I can take what I've learned over the course of this year and apply to injury prevention for the next couple of years and have some good training.

kp

IT LIVES!

"So Kale, what have you been up to since your drop from the VA Triple?"

Umm.
Let's just say my booze tolerance is going up.
Let's just say my social life is through the roof.

I've been really making an effort to keep myself busy.

The first few nights back in Presque Isle, I came home from work and just sat there, thinking.
Thinking is no good. You think yourself into a deep dark hole.

Remember in Talledega Nights when Ricky Bobby quits Nascar, and in the bar his old assistant gives him this pep talk?

"It's because it's what you love, Ricky. It is who you were born to be. And here you sit, thinking. Well, Ricky Bobby is not a thinker. Ricky Bobby is a driver. He is a doer. And that's what you need to do. You don't need to think. You need to drive."

I can draw a parallel to this Ricky Bobby quote.
When I lived in Waynesboro, I got all messed up in the head. Thinking. Alone all the time.
Too much introspection is like holding a mirror in front of a mirror and trying to figure out which reflection is the good one.

My mantra since that time has been..."All I know is Go."
Apply it to life. Apply it to whatever.
Just keep going. Screw everything else. No one can take away your will to keep going.
It's yours.

So I'm starting to Go again.

10 minutes on the bike this morning is a start. Northern Physical Therapy...I cannot say enough for what they've done for me.

I've been given the OK to start swimming a little.

Some who know me are worried as they read this. "It's too soon".
It's not. I'm moving. I'm not going hard. This is the time of year to just chill and have fun.
Nothing serious.

I feel like the Frankenstein that has been put back together. My movement will be slow and ugly at first, but that's cool. Ugly is cool.

I'm alive. And it feels great.

kp

Body Snatchers

Oooh, I forgot about this part.
The taper.

Every twinge creates a panic:
"Is it an injury? Am I going to feel this next week?"

Difference is, I'm mature enough now to think rationally.
I used to stress out big time.
My body feels great overall.
I'm getting more sleep than I have been for the last 6 months.
I just need to stretch. I've been telling myself all along- if I'm going to DNF, it'll be because of a flexibility issue. With that in mind, the next week is going to be crazy full of looong stretch sessions morning, noon, and night.

The other part to this taper thing is the continuation of an addiction.
It's a well-known fact that people who spend a significant amount of time training for a race can fall into a depression after the event.
The way you build your life around it and sacrifice so many things for it...when it's gone, you feel empty.
I've never really felt that before, mostly because I am always looking ahead anyways.
So to talk of continuing the addiction...I'm already looking at next year.

I'm not going to make declarative statements, because whenever I do that, things don't happen.

There are certain events I am eyeing.
I want to go longer. I want to go faster. I want to move without thinking...and my body to repair itself on less sleep than ever before. I want doctors to be baffled and insurance companies to be weary of covering me. I don't want to be human.

Bring it.

14 days. A Brief.

I've been going about the last couple of weeks all wrong.

The thought process has been...."I HAVE TO do this, HAVE to do that."
As a result, training during september has been stressful and unenjoyable.

Somewhere along the line, I forgot to have fun. I was so wrapped up in the consequences of not training that I lost sight of why I do these things.

I'm glad I got my head in the right place in time. If I had carried that attitude into Lake Anna, I would have forgot to have fun during the race, and that would have surely ended in a DNF.

Got to remember that I love the scenery, the relaxed feeling I get after working out, and the time alone to sort out my thoughts.
It'll be here before I know it.

In 14 days to this moment, I will be doing my second Ironman swim.
In 15 days to this moment, I will be glad to see sunlight after riding my bike all night.
In 16 days to this moment, I will hopefully still be upright, plowing through miles of running with only one thing in mind...a finish line.

I think I'm going to play this one song by Nonpoint the entire time in VA...
Still Alive and Kickin'....

kp

t minus 14

Mixed emotions today.

Today I feel:
Very Nervous.
Stoked.
Stressed.
Excited.
Paranoid.

2 weeks.
My sleep deprivation is pretty much done.
I felt so awful yesterday that I canned it and was in bed by 10:30 last night.
With the hours of work I need to put in the next 2 weeks at Mojo, the chances of actually getting my required rest from now until race day are slim. It's times like these that I wish I was a professional athlete.

On tuesday night I did a 4 hour ride until 2 am, and I had such a strange range of thoughts...
"How do you possibly think you can do this race?"
I'm 26. There's a reason no dude under 31 has finished this.
Then minutes later...
"48 hours is doable!"

No expectations is what I need, but it's in my nature to think I am going to go there and kill it...even if in the back of my head, I know the fitness isn't there.
Well, the fitness is there. The mental might be there.
But I can NOT get caught up in the idea of going fast during the race...especially on the bike.
I'd like to actually be able to RUN a little bit on the run.

I would expect my blog rate to go up during these next 2 weeks. My brain will be racing, and my training volume will be less. I will need some type of outlet.

The hay is in the barn.
And I am preparing my mind to go into some really, really bad places.
14 days.


kp

super cheesy rhymezzzz

I'm focusing up
And numbing down
I bike all night
Through every town

I inhale food
And exhale pain
New aches start
As old ones wane

I'm building my resume
As an enduro geek
My brain is dead
But my body's sleek!

So what do I do
When I reach my triple mecca?
I go right past the finish
And aim for the deca!

Captain Crunch -19 days

19 days till race day.
5 days of "no effing around" training is about to start.

It's the last chance to callous my brain (and body...but more importantly, brain) before the 2 week rest period from September 25-October 9th. Starting tomorrow and ending friday, my only concern is burying myself in training and sleep deprivation.
I'm going to wake up in the morning and wish I hadn't gone to bed because the sleep was just a tease.
I'm going to pop caffeine pills and ibuprofen like M and Ms.
I want to make myself cry like an overtired little girl when the alarm goes off on friday morning.

For further motivation, I'd like to hear sometime before this race through the grapevine that someone doubts me. Or thinks I'm stupid for doing this.
That will help quite a bit.

On the fun side of things...
-Starting to buy food and other items for the race. Kind of adds some excitement. This is really going to happen.
-Troy and the Crew at Northern Physical Therapy has made a cycling jersey and triathlon jersey with their logo on it so I can represent their awesome facility. I really wouldn't have been able to get this far without their help. They know what they are doing!
-Getting the crew on the same page so they know what to expect. Luckily, I have Justin, an athlete, and Sarah, a massage therapist on the crew. My college friend Sterlynn will also be there. She'll be doing twitter updates and making food and stuff.

Race weekend visualizing has begun.
Swim. Stay relaxed.
Bike. Eat and stay focused on not going too hard.
Run. Just grit the teeth and get it done.

Troy and I have been discussing sleep during the race. To sleep or not to sleep?
How foggy will I be and how stiff will I be when I wake up?

I guess time will tell.

25 days.
There's a frustrating point in training for a big event where you know you're fit enough to do it, so you wanna do it before an injury or something happens.truth is, I feel fit enough, but there's no way to know really.
While I MIGHT be fit enough, there's certainly some fine tuning over the next 11 days.
I can swim hard for the next 18 days for sure.
I got a long run walk to do tonight after good day of training today, and that'll be the last major weight-bearing long workout.
Then next monday it's another long ride- 15 hours hopefully. And then the long hours are done.
It's almost time. The days are really flying by now.

4 Weeks Of Crabby Hermit Syndrome

Exactly 4 weeks to this very moment, I will be 3 hours into a 7.2 mile swim...hopefully daydreaming along and patient. Triathlon swims are the worst when all you can think about is getting done. I hope that I can find that peaceful rhythm and just settle in, so that I am not starting the race off on the wrong foot.

I think my plan will be to swim 3 laps, or 1.2 miles, at a time, then stop for fuel for a minute, and get right back to it. That'll be 6 segments....much easier in my head than thinking 18 laps.

There are other factors in my life right now that are adding some unnecessary stress.
My car. Moving. The "divorce". Money.
They try to take my focus off what I've been training for all year. I cannot let this happen.
Usually the day before or day of a race, I kind of go into myself.
I don't enjoy talking to people. I get agitated really quickly.
I guess it's my way of focusing up.

Strangely, I am already starting to feel this way, 4 weeks out.
I'm not thinking about socializing.
I'm thinking of the core work, the stretching, the workouts, and the details I need to be focusing on over the next month.
The race is consuming my existence, and all I want do right now is go into hiding and just prepare for the next month.
Is this healthy? I don't know, and I guess I don't really care.

I think it's good that I'm hungry.
I am still pretty fatigued from the overnight bike ride to Bangor and the lack of sleep earlier this week. The goal is to be really well rested come Monday and Tuesday, where I'll do back to back long training days.
After those two days are done, there's one major bike ride left and then the hard work is done.

Here's to not trapping yourself in a limited world.
Limits are only for the closed minded.

kp

crank

When I laid down to go to sleep last night, I had been up for 45 hours straight... a new high for me and an even larger accomplishment given the bike ride the night before.
I struggled to keep my eyes open for a few hours prior to that, but that might have had something to do with the Octoberfest.

Ever seen that movie Crank with Jason Statham?
I felt like him yesterday.
As long as I stay amped in a sleep deprived state, I'm good to go.
It's when I'm just chilling that sleep tries to yank my eyelids down.
For the first time in my training, I feel like I know what to expect in a month.
The aches feel like injuries in the wee hours of the morning, but ibuprofen and sunshine seems to cure everything.
Another sleepless night on tap for tonight. No training though- just driving.

I sometimes wonder if I am taking the right path, living this lifestyle..but then I get smart.
If anything, training for this event has enriched my life.
You haven't lived until you've seen Katahdin in the moonlight on a clear night after 80 miles of riding.
I'm thankful for the experiences I've had and the people I've met, and I look forward to all the new things in the future.
It's in my blood, and I could never go back now.
32 days!

KP

Math For Zombies (40 days)

40 days = 5 weeks, 5 days.
5 weeks, 5 days = 3 weeks, 5 days of hard, hard training.

I can't even pretend to think that I'm not getting more nervous by the day.

Mike, Von, and I did a nasty, nasty ride yesterday.
It was supposed to be a century, but even though no one said it, I think we all knew that at 25 miles, we weren't going to go all the way.
The windchill had to be around 40 and rain...ideal hypothermia conditions.
We bailed at 85...which sounds lame considering we really only had another hour left, but the headwinds were relentless and we were freezing.
The course was extremely hilly, and I feel good about where my legs are at.
Today I feel as though I could do the whole thing again.
I did have a humbling/sobering moment at mile 80 yesterday when I reminded myself that in a month, I need to another 256 miles on top of that.
Apples and oranges, though.
Hilly course, fairly intense yesterday.
October = relaxed pace as possible, flat course.

Barring major tragedy, I think I'll be ready for the swim. I have a fairly aggressive buildup plan over the next few weeks. I don't have to dog-sit anymore, so that opens up major time.

Bike wise, I still have a couple things that need to happen. TT bike or road bike? I need to do a long ride or two on the Cervelo to figure things out. If I can't be comfortable on it, it's going to have to be road bike.

On the "run" side of things, I need to do one more all-nighter and pretty much walk/run everywhere I go from here on out.

Will I be ready?
The answer lies not in my body, but in my head.
If I can achieve enough balance leading up to the race to want it when things start to get ugly.
If I can stay there mentally during the race to eat right.
If I can be patient enough to pace myself in the early hours of the bike.
Right now, I want it. And as time goes on, I think I'm only going to want it more.

kp

47 Days

Had a great conversation with Pete yesterday about sleep deprivation and training.

We talked about caffeine, pain management, etc...but what I really brought away from the conversation is the fact that in order to finish this, I am going to have to be an anomoly of sorts.

I believe the quote was this:
"Every kid I see come to Lake Anna is a DNF. Unless there are bones sticking out somewhere, you have got to keep moving."
Apparently, the younger guys like me just don't have the mental goods yet to get through that 2nd night. It makes me nervous.
Why has no male under 31 ever finished this event?
Am I missing something? Why do I think I can?

I compare it to getting my first tattoo.
I think, "How awesome to do it...but how much is it going to hurt?"
So many unknowns.

So much going through my head right now.
Am I training right or enough?
Pete seems to think I'm doing well with my sleep deprivation training, but that for the most part has been easy. Am I doing it wrong or something?

I need a confidence booster bike ride before I do this, or I will stand on the start line unsure of myself.
Pete has said that he doesn't do any mega-rides, but as an indivdual, I feel like a I NEED to get a solid 20 hour bike ride in.
Just so I know what it feels like.
Just so I'm not questioning my ablities.
If it's all in your head, I need that extra edge.

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance."-Bruce Barton

47 Days.

Perspective

57 days.
Let's think about how stupid this is:

Peaks To Portland, a difficult endurance swim in southern Maine is 2.4 miles.
I have to do this distance 3 times with no rest.

The Trek Across Maine is 180 miles in 3 days.
I am supposed to do almost TWO of those in one day. 6 days of riding in around 24 hours.

A marathon is the pinnacle of some runner's endurance achievements.
I need to run 3 of them consecutively after doing 2 Trek Across Maines, consecutively, and 3 Peaks to Portland swims.

Kind of hard to wrap my head around it, really.

NO SLEEP TILL BROOKLYN!
Oh, wait...NO
SLEEP
TILL
LAKE ANNA!

Doesn't really flow...but you get the point.

kp

60 days

46 days until "The Hay is in the Barn", as my old track coach Bruce Bell would say.
At that point, you can no longer do anything to make you more fit, and rest is the only thing necessary.

Most high-intensity events call for a full-month taper of training.
This low-intensity event is doable on 2 weeks of rest.

My life is getting turned upside down right now, but training is a great tool of relief.
Not really sure what to do with my car, the dog, or my apartment, but at least I can still ride a bike. Blech.

This comes at a great time in my training, really.
My rage at earth in general makes physical pain easy, and there is certainly no shortage of motivation to get me out the door.
My only focus for the next two months is surviving a Triple Ironman.

Rode a nice 120 mile bike ride last monday, and it was relatively easy on the body.
I still need more "ass training", or new shorts. My ass was chizzapped after that ride.
A double century(200 mi) is next. Not sure when, but very soon. I just need to get rested.

Within the last week, the 336 mile bike ride has turned from something I fear to something I think is doable. The 120 mile ride was very, very hilly, and the amount of work done on that would probably be akin to at least 150 miles on the flat Triple Iron course.

Gotta start putting long kick sessions in the pool. I'm not worried about my upper body on the swim, Troy at Northern PT has me doing some wild stuff.
Maybe two more overnight walk/runs.
3 more uber-bike rides.

And then...the hay is in the barn.
I'm just ready for the harvest.

kp

Think Negative. 68 days

I'm stiff.

This is my last week of easy training for the next month or so, and today is the last day of this week. Looking back at some of the things I've written in this blog, this is usually about the time I start to make these declarative statements... things I'm going to do or my times for the race.
It jinxes me, and they never get done.

This time, I am going to do the opposite, and write about everything that is wrong.
Perhaps it will further help me put a grasp on what I need to do between now and October 9.

1)My swimming is in the shitter.
When Leah comes back, I can spend less time walking the dog and more time swimming.

2)My butt is not hardened enough yet.
Long rides are on the way though....

3)Not enough all nighters.
At least that doesn't require extra time...it actually creates time to train...hmm. Two birds, one stone...

I gotta say, if that's all I have for negatives, I am fairly satisfied.

My whole race hinges on the 336 mile bike ride. I am not afraid to admit how much it scares me.

So much can happen. How will it affect my back and neck, being hunched over for over 24 hours? What about my ability to walk or run after? At first glance, one looks at the flat course and thinks AWESOME...but then, if you think about it, flat only means that you have to constantly pedal. No coasting. No climbing to change up the muscle groups.
I'm experimenting with a couple different bikes to see what will be the best compromise of comfort and performance.

I think about the bike a lot, and think some more, and then realize I'm ignoring my lifetime mantra...

"Don't think, just do."

kp

You Win! (73 days)

Congratulations Kale R P,
You are the winner of a 3 night stay in Turner, ME!
Thanks to your purchase of a shatty 1999 Land Rover that over-heats, you get one extra night in paradise.
Great.

As if I didn't have enough on my plate, now I have to figure out how I'm going to get to Presque Isle, how I'm going to get my vehicle fixed, and how I'm going to come back down to get it.

So...I'll escape this situation by sitting here and blogging.
If I ignore it, it'll just go away... right?
With the most exciting Tour de France I have ever seen, my blogging took a back seat in July.
Sorry.

One cool thing- we ran to Houlton last monday from UMPI- a 45-50 mile affair.
It was so hot, and the railroad bed is so open that shade is hard to come by.
It was a long day, but a great day until the end. Not going into that though.
The point is that Joe did unbelievably well in his first ultra situation, and though I would never call running that far easy, it was the easiest Ultra I have ever done. No mental issues, just blisters.

EVALUATION
Right now, I feel good, but I am done riding and running intensely.
A group ride spoils the rest of my weekend training.
Riding for 2 hours red-lined is going to do nothing for me after 20 hours on the bike.
I need some good back to back long days on the bike.
I need pool time.
I need flexibility time.
Leah's return from camp mid-August directly coincides with what I am going to call...
"No Effing Around" Training- a month-long, wisely planned out cram of all the last chance training I will need.
Long rides, long swims, and long run/walks, and plenty of sleepiness.

I told Pete(Deca Dude) in an email today that I was starting to get nervous, to which he replied,
"You should be nervous. You are about to do the longest triathlon in the US."

So anxious.
kp

no grammar

if you haven't figured it out, i'm a quote guy.

i heard this quote once:
"there is no such thing as burnout,
just loss of appetite".

i also heard that over-training
leads to burnout.

i think it's all attitude.

right now, i'm a mess.
my eyelids droop, and my shoulders slump, and i want to lay down and sleep for 3 days.

i don't look at it like..."i need to slow down".
i look at it and say..."damn dude, you better harden up".

when i'm training and the pain sets in, my new mantra is "what's it going to feel like in virginia?"
it puts it all in perspective, and my head shuts up.
interesting, yea?

picked up the Coffee News the other day, saw another old quote:
"shoot for the moon,
so even if you fall short
you'll still be among stars."

i thought that was kind of funny, because
in my early triathlon days, i wanted to be a pro triathlete, just for the glamour of it.
now, here i am, rubbing elbows with some of the
world's most prominent (or should i say only) ultra distance triathletes
and if i finish, i'm all of a sudden one of them.
the best part?
we're too crazy to attract professional funding.
the sport is still super obscure.

i'm not doing this for the fame of it anyways.
frankly, i cringe when people
i didn't tell ask me about it.
pretty much the whole town knows now,
so i guess it's extra motivation to finish.

87 days.

89 Days

Just wrapping up a fantastic 7 day block of training, and other than a little tired, I feel great.
I put in about 30 hours over the last week..lemme break it down:
10 hours of running/walking
6 hours of PT/plyometrics/resistance
14 hours of biking

Notice the lack of swim in there.
I am having a real challenge finding swim time.
Open water swimming solo is dangerous, and pool time directly collides with PT and work. I'm going to have to work something out here..

The good news is that I'm beginning to feel really awesome on the bike. I can really feel the difference from the plyos I'm doing. Less slouch, better muscle recruitment, fantastic.

8 days until the run to Houlton via trail, a 40 mile affair. This week will be a rest week until sunday night, and then it's right back into some heavy duty sleep deprivation and major volume. It'll be interesting to see how this Houlton run goes on minimal sleep with a good bike ride prior to it. It's Joe's first Ultra type workout, and he's amped. I'll be depending on his enthusiasm to get me through. Although I have never done anything like this, I am hoping the training I've done up until now will make it "easy", i.e., no major mental crisis. Either way, it's going to be a really cool day.

Chronic Fatigue and Ratings (94 days)

I am tirrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeddddddddddd.
I'm sure it's spillover from saturday's long bike day and sunday night's long hike/run.
Mix that in with the lack of sunshine, and I am feeling very dreary and unphotosynthesized.

I know it's not a word, but while we may not benefit nutritionally from sun, lack of it sure can have negative effects on us.

Ever since Pete and I chatted, I've been very gung ho. I want to train at the level of those ultra endurance veterans, but my body just doesn't have that huge base yet.
26 is simply too young, and my price for trying is chronic fatigue.

How can I counteract this? Extra sleep would be my first suggestion, but sleep is the enemy right now.
I need to know what mass amounts of aerobic activity on very little rest feels like. Not only that- my body needs to learn how to repair itself on what it gets for rest.

It's going to have to be diet. It wouldn't hurt to cut out group rides, 5ks, and other intensity workouts. It takes too long to recover and eats into my energy for the rest of the week.

RATINGS ON MY PREPARATION 1-10...(1 is bad)
-Swim- 3
Very little swim prep under my belt. I will begin with 2 hour swims in the pool and work up over the next few months in open water as well. I have not been very proactive because 1) the swim comes to you rather quickly with little wear on the body and 2) the swim is only, at worst, 1/12 of the event. I am not underestimating it.
4 to 5 hours is a long time to have your face in the water, and will take a serious toll on my legs if I'm not prepared.

-Bike-5
I have plenty of intensity miles on my bike..but intensity does nothing over 336 miles. The goal from here on out is ridiculously easy mileage and long hours in the saddle.. Culminating in a mid-august ride from Lubec to Kittery in one sitting...either until I hit Kittery or I bonk really, really, really hard.
You know what scares me the absolute most about the Triple? The bike. That's a long time on the saddle.
I know what to expect: the sore neck, the sore hands, the sore butt, and how it feels like your tires are flat when you're pedaling..and how you go to switch into your easiest gear and realize that you are already in it...
The course will be all flat, which means no coasting, which...you guessed it, means full-time pedaling.
No fear, dude. Riiight.

-Run-8
I feel as though I am right where I need to be for every sport, including logging all my hardest and heaviest mileage for running early in the year with plenty of time to recover in the last couple of months..My legs felt great the other night. The real test for my running legs will be my long bike ride in the wee hours of the morning of July 20 before me and Joe Mortland's 40 mile run to Houlton.

-Sleep deprivation-4
This might scare me just as much as the bike ride, because it's all new and completely unknown.
How will my body react to two nights without sufficient sleep and 3 days worth of continuous aerobic activity?

CONCLUSION
I'm coming to a point where I just want race day so that I can stop focusing on unknowns. I'm getting more nervous and anxious with each passing day.
My natural reaction is to go out and figure these unknowns out, but I can't just jump into multi-day bike rides.
I'm doing well at following a natural progression; something I've struggled with in the past.
I'm being patient, and listening to my body. If I can keep it up, I will stay injury free until October, and if I can stay injury free, I can finish.

Kill the Man, Become the Monster

I remember the summer after high school.
I worked at FedEx loading trucks from 3-9 in the morning, did landscaping all day, and then worked at a restaurant at night.
A good night was 4 hours of sleep.
Although insane, I held a certain amount of pride in being able to do such a thing...and I was rich that summer.
If only I knew where that money went..but I digress.

I bring up the summer of 2001 because I am set to go on a whole new level of sleep deprivation.
Many of you know I've been seeking advice from Pete Lefferts, the only American Deca-Iron athlete at the World Championships last year.
Yes, 10 Ironmans. Yes, all in one go.
Yes, swimming 24 miles, biking 1120, and running 262.
Get your head around that.
He's telling me I need to do about a week at a time with no sleep, except for 45 minute naps here and there.
Anybody can gut 1 night out on the course, but he says, it's the second night, running through the night after already biking all night the night before that's the tough part.

The crew becomes essential on the second night and during the third day, because the athlete has turned into a robot and can no longer really think for themselves. The crew needs to know what the athlete needs just by looking at him.

In talking with Pete yesterday, I am more fired up than I ever have been about an event. It kind of reminds me of training for my first half ironman. The fear; the not knowing what to expect or how it's all going to unravel.
People keep asking me why I'm doing it.
It's the training. It's the challenge. I need to know if I can do it.
If I can, a whole new realm of my life will be opened.

Race Across America, Ultraman, Great Divide Race, Self Transcendence, Swimming the English Channel, Eco Challenge, Primal Quest, Le Tour Ultime.
Google any of these, and you will find they are some of the hardest races in the world.

People keep telling me that what I am doing is awesome, and I am only humbled because what I have done thus far, in the words of Ricky Bobby, "isn't worth a picture of a whale and a dolphin getting it on".
I haven't accomplished anything yet. Lots of people run 50 miles.
Some do 100, some do 200.
Yiannis Kouros has run 1000 miles in 10 days.
A Triple Ironman is an accomplishment that only a handful of people in the world can say they've done.
Am I too young?
I guess we'll find out.

kp

If and When

I'm done watching the news.
Everything is so gloom and doom about war and financial crisis.
I'm just tired of hearing about it every hour....every second even.

You know, if things are going to happen, let's get it over with already.
If every state is going to go bankrupt, let's go, so we can start over again.
If North Korea is going to bomb us, get it done, so we can retaliate and wipe them out.

I get so tired of hearing about what's coming, or how this or that is on the verge of happening.
It's all speculation.

Honestly, why bring it up if it might not even happen?

I might die tomorrow.
I might die in a minute.
It might be possible for the world to explode at any given second.

Thing is, we can speculate and analyze everything, but the one truth is that nothing is 100% predictable.
Chance. Isn't it a beautiful thing?

It forces us to live in the moment in a world where everyone is trying to figure out what's going to happen next.

I'm reminded of a tee shirt I saw last summer that had me laughing for a while.
Haikus are awesome,
Sometimes they don't make much sense
Refrigerator

Life is that random. So let it go, media. Report on what's happened, not what's going to.

T-Minus 105 Days!

I'm tired this morning.
Was it the dog waking me up at 4:30, or the big thunderstorm we had last night?
Or, was it the time trial last night?
Hmm, I would indeed say... yes to all.

It's been a few years since I last did a straight up, all-out bike effort.
Double that up with the plyometrics I've been doing with Troy 3 times a week over at Northern Physical Therapy and whoa, what a shock to the system!
In reference to Mondays horror show of a bike ride, Troy figured that it just hasn't been long enough since the 50 to jump into those long workouts- which, he's right. It hasn't even been 3 weeks yet. Most people take about a month of recovery, but I took no time at all, thinking it would be cool because I was structurally fine.

Anyways, my energy is beginning to return. I've been eating everything in sight for the last few days, hoping to replenish anything I might be missing. In order to load up with calories. protein, and nutrients in the easiest way possible, I've started with Cytomax Recovery in addition to my regular diet..

I guess most importantly, I'm ready to recommit to Ultra Long training after this week is over. I'm guessing my bike ride in VA is going to be around 24 hours, and I have got to start building up to rides that long over the next 2 months.

Questions I need to answer for myself through training these next couple of months:
-Time trial frame or road frame with aero bars?
-Bring an extra, larger pair of shoes(bike and run) for swelling feet?
-What is the max number of calories I can absorb per hour without getting sick, and what mix of solids and fluids?
-How often do I need to switch from electrolyte replacement to water and back?
-How much fuel can I take in during the 4 hour swim without cramping?
-What is the least sleep I can go on? Most of the seasoned ultra-endurance dudes will not sleep. I will need to figure out whether I can do that at my experience level or not.

Oh there's so much more, but these are my major concerns, because they are directly related to finishing.
I can deal with chafing, blisters, and superficial things. I cannot deal with not finishing. They'll peel me off the course before I quit.

That's all for now.
Happy Training!
Kale

Abyss

Man, am I in deep.
I feel like something is very wrong with me.
This is where this blog is going to help me in my pursuit to finish the Triple.
I need to write to sort out my thoughts, so I'm sorry if this particular entry seems like I'm talking to myself.

I have no energy. None.
I had plans to do a long ride up to St Agatha and back yesterday.
Made it to New Sweden when I realized that the ride was not going to happen.
I literally want to sleep, and had all I could do to get back to Presque Isle, where I laid down in my bed and slept for 4 hours.

I know whats up...I haven't been doing the things I need to be doing...
Sleeping..I only average 7 hours a night.
Eating well...I am having a hard time getting the calories I need every day to maintain the volume of training.
My body is essentially harvesting itself. I'm starving, in short.
It's affecting my attitude. I feel lethargic and depressed.

I've never counted calories, but I guess it's time to do that.
As I pedaled home yesterday, each stroke hurting me deeply, I had second thoughts.
Can I survive the triple?
Right now, I can't.

I guess the positive thing is that I realize today, 3 months away, that I need to get more professional about this event. Having the will to do the training means nothing if you can't supply that training with the fuel necessary to complete it.

I'm up against some very real factors here. Age, experience, and base.
Everyone in this event has years of experience in Ultradistance racing, and are in their mid-thirties and older.
While an athlete might be able to fake a 50 miler by training haphazardly, no one can fake a 421 Mile event.

Some thoughts I'm having during this "down phase":
I'm sure I can swim 7.2 miles, but how will pedaling a bike feel after that, moreover, for over 24 hours?
At what point is the event going to "get real", aka, when do the first round of mental crises come?

I never get these thoughts most of the time, and this is how I know something is not right.
Perhaps I should have taken a little more rest after the North Face Challenge.

Escape

I'm not a part of this world,
Say my feet to my brain

And the rest of my body agrees.

For when I run,
I'm only in contact with the world
When my feet touch down

But they repel from Earth, and fly behind me,
bracing.
for the next dose of gravity

already craving the next air phase.

Race Report: North Face Challenge 50 Mile Run

It's 2AM, and it sounds as though a train is about to run over me in my borrowed Wal-Mart tent.
No, there's not a loud snorer in the campsite next to me.
There's literally a train just over the hill from my Ozark Trail shelter. Great spot...

I manage to get another 50 minutes of sleep in before my cell phone alarm wakes me up at 3.
Time to eat a bagel, gather my stuff, and get going. I've woken up early enough to get some calories in and find some coffee along the way to Camp Lutherwood- the venue for the North Face Challenge.

Driving into downtown Bellingham, WA, I'm mildly depressed to see that nothing is open. Nothing.
Going without coffee before a 10 hour+ event is simply not an option for me, but it might have to happen this day.
U-Turn, and it's a 10 minute drive to Lutherwood.
Upon arrival, I'm relieved to see that there's an array of food and COFFEE waiting for the racers.
I have just enough time to down a cup, eat another bagel and peanut butter, and pin my number on before it's 5AM and time to roll.

One of my favorite parts about Ultra-marathons is the start. No one sprints off the line. A wheelchair patient would beat most Ultra runners in the first half mile of the race. It's funny because you see all these super-fit people going in slow motion...I guess it's just not what you'd expect.

We run by the lake and up by the camps where all 90 of us funnel into a single-track, densely wooded trail. At this point, the trail is so tight and steep that it is pretty much a hike until we hit the fire road.

The pack starts to thin out as everyone begins to settle into their own pace. I pull up next to an older guy from Juno, Alaska. We run together for twenty minutes or so, talking about our hometowns, dogs, and bears. A first timer, he pulls ahead of me and I never see him again. Impressive.

After a steep mile and a half hike up the fire road, we hit the first aid station. I eat some crackers and drink some water, but waste no time. It's too early for slacking.
20 minutes later, we're ascending Chuckanut Mountain. And it is STEEP. Three of us hike and pant our way up the mountain, which would be a day hike for most. We know there's still some 40+ miles to go after this, so we do what we can to make light of the situation, talking about random things.

At the top, there's no real celebration or acknowledgment of the end of the climb, but the descent is long, open, and amazing. I get maybe a little carried away and let it fly for a while, clicking fast miles off...until I see two dudes peeing in the bushes. I'm reminded that I hadn't pissed yet....and suddenly, I REALLY have to go. My pee is still clear...so we're good on the hydration front.

The descent ends as we reenter a nasty section of single-track along the ridge of the Chuckanut trails. It starts with short, steep climbs and scrambles(on all fours), and ends with quad-busting, mentally draining technical descents. At one point, I look to my left and realize that I'm on the edge of a cliff with a vertical drop I don't care to estimate or think about.
It's at this point that I realize that I'm doing something I never would have thought about 5 years ago.
17 miles in, and my quads are already wrecked.
We come out of the woods, and all of a sudden, we're on fire roads again. It's a fast four miles to the next aid station, and it feels so easy to run when you aren't scrambling over things or holding yourself up with a tree to prevent you from sliding down a cliff on your butt.

I stay at the halfway aid station for a few minutes, taking stock of myself and downing bananas, chips, and drinks while a volunteer fills my Camelbak. I am a little tired, but my mind is fresh. My electrolytes are good, for once.

I pry myself off the pavement and start running down the fire road, raring to go. My levity quickly changes as I round the corner and stare at a wall. At least it's not technical, I think to myself, and start hiking.
Half an hour later, I round a turn and I'm still hiking. Half an hour after that, I get back on the trail, round the turn, and I'm still hiking. At this point, I'm pretty frustrated. Honestly, how long can a hill be?? Only after the race do I find out that the "hill" was actually Blanchard Mountain.
The hills level off, and I am running on the ridge of Blanchard, trying to keep my spirits up. That bitching mountain sapped a lot of my energy. I had gels and bars in my Camelbak, but I couldn't stomach another one of those. Finally, I get to an aid station and down potato chips like a pro. I take the whole bowl for myself and just chow down. I know I need it because of how amazing it tastes.

I leave the aid station and this time it's a climb in the middle of the woods. Not even a trail. There's an orange marker every fifty yards, and that's the trail. I'm pissed, which I know is bad, but I can't change it. I'm tired of climbing and tired of lifting my legs to get over boulders and downed trees the size cars.

The descent begins, and each step kills my feet. My muscles are sore already. It's a double-edged sword in that it hurts my muscles to hold myself back on the downhills, but letting it fly kills my feet, which hurt as well. I bitch and moan all the way to the aid station at mile 42.

My attitude improves immediately upon seeing human beings after having run alone for hours. I chill out for a good 8 minutes at mile 42, trying to sway my spirits to the better side of things for a last push to the finish. The volunteers, who aren't runners, tell me that the last 8 miles is all downhill. I trudge off feeling as though these last few miles will be an easy celebration of the day.

2 miles later, I'm staring at something I cannot comprehend. Gnarly roots. Massive rocks.
The Oyster Dome, called "Kill Bill Hill" by the locals, is a vertical monster that I can't even explain. Although I want to cry, I can only laugh at the situation.
There is no place for despair when you are out there. No one can really help you. You have to put one foot in front of the other and just deal with your own little crises as they come.

There are day hikers on the trail at this point, and they clear the way for us as we literally stagger up the mountain. You can see the sympathy in some of their eyes...for they are struggling up it, and know that after already going 45 miles, it must really suck.
I feel no thrill as I pass 4 racers on this section. We're grabbing trees to pull our bodies up and are forced to stop every couple of minutes to catch our breath and keep our wits about us.

I get to the top and try to get myself together, as I'm pretty messed up in the head after the climb. I descend the last 5 miles- a mix of painful single track and fire road. I'm so traumatized by all the climbing that I honestly expect a climb after every turn, even though I know these last few miles are downhill.

Finally, I run by the camps we ran by earlier in the day. I come out of the woods, and there's the finish line.
I'm beat up, but mentally good to go at the end... even faking a fall right after the finish line, to the laughter of the people I had run with throughout the day, and the concern of the medical people who didn't know I was joking.

So I was able to keep my electrolytes in balance, which has been a challenge for me in the past. I do need to improve my eating though, and discipline myself to eat even when I don't want to. Gels and bars are better than zero calories. That was my downfall in this race. I really feel as though I'm learning a lot with each Ultra I do. I certainly am proud of the finish, even though it took a lot longer than I hoped. I had never run anything that severe, so mentally I kept it together and that's all that matters for October.

Thanks for reading...
KP

Update, 6/14

Well, I certainly thought I would do better at updating this.
I guess when you make a commitment to do something that demands all of your focus and energy, the last thing you need is another thing to work on. I enjoy writing, I just haven't had the time!

The short story is that I am on track for where I need to be at this time. At 4 months away, the Triple is getting more real than ever. I really only have 3 months of quality training left.

Finished the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Run last weekend. There'll be a Race Report soon. It was a tough day, but I felt fine at the end, and I have no injuries from the race. That is the most important thing.

So, what's the plan now? Next month, me and one other guy from town are planning a run from Presque Isle to Houlton on the snowmobile trails. It'll be a nice flat 35 mile run. I am toying with the idea of the Great Cranberry Island 50 Mile Run two days prior to that, but it's still a little early to tell if I'll be ready. That's July.

In August, I will attempt to do the entire Maine Coast from Lubec to Kittery on a bike in one continuous ride.
After that, it's just maintenance in september, and that's about it.

Kale

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night

It looks like it's going to be another amazing day in Presque Isle.
When training is going well, everything in my life seems that much better.

I took off at 10PM friday night for a little night ride, and ended up putting in almost 50 miles, riding From PI to Fort Fairfield. Fort Fairfield to Limestone, then to Caribou and back to Presque Isle. The average was a little over 16 MPH, which was good considering some of those sustained climbs and the hill workout I did with Von the day before.

That speed is sufficient for a Triple...and may or may not be doable on a flat course for a full day. Actually, in doing the calculations, at 16 MPH, that would land a 21 Hour Bike Split. I would gladly take that. I honestly don't know what to expect when it starts getting ugly out there...which my guess will be somewhere around 15 hours into the bike.

Night training is strange sometimes. You feel really in tune to the world.
Everything is quiet, and it feels natural after the first hour or so.
It amazes me that there's this world that goes on while we sleep, and it's exciting to see it in person. The deer in the fields, the random foxes and skunks. The people driving.
Where are they going at this hour? Are they drunk or just starting their "day" on the night shift?
At any rate, it's a cool feeling to ride directly down the middle of the road of a well-lit ghost town in the middle if the night.

kp

Take That

World, you're suffocating me.
No more obligations
Stop with the bills
Enough petty nonsense
Stop spinning, I'd like to dismount

You're making me Earth-sick
Seems the only way to stick it to you
is to do what they say I can't
I'm going longer
to make you look smaller.
I lace up my shoes
....
and you shrink

Ready To Go

my mind is scrambled
like eggs..sizzling and fizzling
if the computer is what gets us ahead,
why is it facing back at me?
movement is progress
the physical type
with air in your lungs
and sun on your skin
being indoors all day
should be considered a sin

-kp

Raring To Go.

It's mid-April, and finally, things are starting to feel spring-y.

Tomorrow's 2-3 hour training day will cap one of my best training weeks in a long, long time.

Monday: 26.3 miles on the elliptical in 3:20, followed by a 20 minute swim

Tuesday: 1:10 Bike ride with Von and Mike. I had nothing from the previous day's marathon. I got dropped. Hard. I thought I could hang for 20 miles, but it just wasn't in the cards...

Wednesday: Day off.

Thursday:
15 mile bike ride in the morning to work.
32 Miles on the Group Ride at night. I held on until the last 8 Miles or so, but frankly, I think I was just too tired from the volume and intensity at which I'd been training at.

Friday: Off
Saturday:Maybe a 1:00-2 Hour run tonight during the night
Sunday: 2-3 hour training day (roller ski, bike, run?)

Reflection
This week was great, but it must be followed by an easier one. Maybe a similar intensity, but certainly less bike volume if I want to avoid any consequences that may come in the form of injury. I feel this weird ankle/heel thing going on that I had last year, which I've heard may just stem from flexiblility or lack thereof.

I'll be stopping in at Northern Physical Therapy on monday to have an injury prevention tutorial. I hope to get rid of any IT, shoulder, knee, and ankle issues before they start this year.

I am just raring to go. I'm ready for the crazy events to start.
It's just that I feel like I know so much more than I did last year.
Already, I'm in so much better shape than I was last year.
I feel confident, unlike my feeling of dread before both Ironman and the 50 mile run.
Bring it on.

kp

Exploits and My Heroes

There are certain advantages to being an ultra-distance athlete.
You can do random physical challenges on any given day...it's how you keep things fun and interesting. At such low intensity, you've got to find ways to break up the monotony.

I got on the elliptical yesterday morning, planning on an easy day of training.
I felt a little sore from the 5k I did a couple of days prior, but otherwise fine structurally.

So I trained. By the day's end, I had done 26.3 miles on the elliptical and a 1000 yard swim.
I guess technically, that means I did an Ultramarathon yesterday. On a whim.

Exploits like this are the reason I created this blog. I have all of these crazy things I want to accomplish this year. The best ones, I think, won't even be the ones I plan, but the ones I think up while eating breakfast on a random day off.

My heroes don't toss a ball, hit a ball, or run exceptionally fast. They don't tackle or get arrested at the club. On any given day, they can run a marathon, or hop on their bike and be 5 states away within a day.
This is what I aspire to do.

I guess I've come to this interesting point in my life where I still want to make a living as an athlete, but I have to go big in order to do it.
If I can ever make a meager living as an athlete, I'm going to have to work hard and do publicity stunts...following the Dean Karnazes template.

What I like about Ultra distance sports is that it's not about talent.
It's about grinding; working hard and tirelessly.
Put the volume in.
Make it hurt, and keep it together mentally.

Maybe it'll come someday...that SuperSponsor, but that won't come until results start rolling in...and I'm really still too young to be good at Ultra distance sports.

So I will continue to do it because I love it, and hopefully things will work the way I want them to.

kp

Blech

I feel like crap.

I just came off two days "off" from work, but somehow I do not feel refreshed.
From previous experience, I know that this is the beginning stage of burnout.

The training, the dog, the work, the club....it's all adding up, and I can really notice it.

I wish I could remember who said it, but, this is a quote I love:
"There is no such thing as burnout, just loss of appetite."

If there is a plus side to this, I still want to train. If it was physical burnout, I wouldn't be interested in training. I feel like I want to take a week off by myself, spend it in a cabin in the woods, and just train for hours a day.

I had all I could do to get out of bed today. I think I need to boost my diet with a little more iron and fresh fruits.

Achieving balance is one of the hardest things for any athlete to do, and I'm no different.
I'm trying to curb my training to my life, even if really, I don't want to. A lot of people struggle with the discipline of getting out to train...I'm struggling with the discipline of enjoying other aspects of life that don't involve training. Is it considered a sickness when the rest of life seems so mundane? I guess this is the first time I've actually admitted it, which I guess is the first step, right?


I don't know.
I have to go to work- I just needed a minute.


kp

Surviving the Elements...Is My Element

I got my first taste of depletion and grit for 2009 on Monday.

We were in the middle of a spring snowstorm that dumped up to a foot of snow on some parts of Aroostook county. Just getting adjusted to having a hyperactive German Shepherd puppy around the house, I hadn't trained in a day or two. Leah was in bed, the dog had finally settled down. It was 11 PM.
Screw it...I thought..I'm going running.

I filled my water bottle with Gatorade, bundled for the snow, and was out the door.

I ran out of town, south on Route 1, hoping to do a nice loop...maybe an hour to an hour and a half.
My MP3 blared. My headlight glared against the snow blowing sideways, driven across the wide open potato fields.
I ran by the State Park, feeling the flow. You get this unexplainable feeling sometimes when you are physically exerting yourself in the middle of nature's fury. You think..this is hard core, but it feels...right. Want to feel alive? Go trail running in a torrential downpour, or in the middle of a snowstorm.

I looked at my phone, and I had already been out 1 Hour, 25 minutes. Why wasn't I at the turn?
I was running past tree farms covered in snow- a winter wonderland. I felt like elves might come out from behind their posts at any moment. If I hadn't started getting so concerned about time and the fact that I only had a little gatorade left, I might have really enjoyed the experience.

Times like these lead to feelings of paranoia and extreme exposure to the elements. In a sense, it becomes like a survival situation. You have to make an effort to calm your mind down in order to think clearly.

My initial reaction was to run faster to get to the turn quicker... I did for a minute, and then realized that I was not being rational. What if I was going the wrong way? I came to the end of a field where the road just ended. Great.

I looked at my bottle and realized I would have to run at least another 1.5 hours home on zero nutrition and zero hydration. I was a little demoralized, and it was hard to pull myself out of that slump for the rest of the night. When you're depleted, you feel more pain because your blood sugar is so low, and it only gets worse until you get something else in your system.

It was 2 AM when I trudged into town, feeling more like an animal than a human. The city lights burned my eyes; I had turned my headlamp off when my batteries ran out before the turnaround an hour and a half ago. Hungry wasn't the word to explain how I felt. I wanted food. Now.

I trudged into the apartment and downed 2 chicken burgers with cheese and ketchup in between chugs of orange juice. Laying down in bed, I wondered...what happened tonight?

The next morning I had to know.
I drove my route and was surprised that the sunny morning had melted the snow on the roads, clearing things up. I turned around only yards from the road that was to take me home. The snow on the roads the night before made the field seem indistinguishable from the pavement.

I'll file this one under lessons learned, as well as a great workout for my mind.
I guess the lesson here is, number one, always prepare for the worst..and number two, don't make rash decisions when you know you aren't thinking clearly.

I love crazy workouts.

Get off the Roller Coaster!

Ever heard the term "diet roller-coaster"?

Well, I never really hold a strict diet, but I can assure you that I'm on the training roller coaster.
It's not that the motivation isn't there. I have plenty- it's just finding time to train.
Every time a new obligation comes up, I cringe...and can only think of how many hours worth of training it's going to cost me.

Maybe I should stick to night training. The problem with this is the resulting sleep debt and inevitable over-training that comes with lack of rest.
I am going to start running on my lunch breaks....doing that 4 times a week will add an easy 2 hours to my week.

The path to fitness is rarely a straight line. There are peaks and valleys mixed with frustrating times and amazing times. I'm currently frustrated, which can only mean that soon, great things will happen.

On the race scene, I'll do a 5k next month to support the local running scene, even though I haven't done any speedwork. It'll hurt, but it will be nice to get out of my comfort zone.
Also, I think I might give the Pineland 50 Mile Run in May a go as well. I barely trained last year and went 10 Hours 29 Minutes, and was the youngest male in the field. At least I'm putting some hours in this year...that race will hurt a lot less as a result, I'm hoping.

Man, thinking back to that race last year...all I can remember is hitting the marathon mark, knowing I was only about halfway done, and just feeling smoked. By mile 4o, I knew it was going to be a long walk to the finish. It was so hot that day... I couldn't walk right for two weeks after. I live for that stuff.

I'm considering riding my bike from Turner to that race just to give myself a little added workout...probably end up being a 11-12 hour day that way. Enough thinking, time to do.
Bike time!

"I know what I was feelin', but what was I thinking?"- Dierks Bentley

-kp

Speaking Of...Skiing and Moose

My abs hurt.

Yesterday was a relatively short but intense day.
1 Hour on the bike at 95-100 RPM.
30 minute circuit on weights(heavy on the abs)
30 minute swim
1 hour ski.

Skiing was pain.
Going heavy on my abdominals was great in that it worked a part of my body that is way weaker than it should be, but it made skate skiing super difficult. When skate skiing, you really stabilize yourself with your midsection, and draw a lot of power from that same area when poling. Needless to say, I'm sore today.

Speaking of skate skiing....man, it's about as close to perfect as you can get right now at the NHC. Fast, hard, and just awesome overall.
On Monday I was out there around 8AM, listening to my mp3, just loving the conditions.
I come upon moose tracks, moose poop, and moose pee "basins". That's the only word I can think of to describe these massive holes in the ski trail. I guess the trail is just so icy and hard-packed that when the moose pee, they make these 2 foot diameter holes in the trail.
As I'm wondering the physics of this phenomenon, I look up, and 30 feet away is a huge moose. He went into the brush about 1o feet off the trail and let me pass. It had to be a male..it was too big to be anything else. It's hard to tell right now without their antlers. Even without the antlers, they still seem pretty imposing at 10 feet away!

And speaking of Monday, what a strange day.
I woke up, swam, skied, and came home for a second round of breakfast.
After eating, I felt light headed, and this persisted through the whole day. I stayed in bed all day, and slept 10-11 hours that night. Woke up yesterday- everything was fine.
As I have said before...sometimes, higher training volume than you're used to will hit you pretty hard when you least expect it.

I feel ok today. Sore. I have energy, and I didn't sleep on my shoulder wrong, which I have a nasty habit of doing. I need to stretch.

I just thought I'd put a quick report in.
Gotta go to work!

kp

Road to Ruin

I'm excited to be alive today.
There are so many things on the precipice of going full speed ahead that my head is spinning.

The races I'm directing are shaping up every day.
The triathlon club is growing every week.
The athletes I'm coaching are getting better by the minute.
I'm wrapping up my first double-digit-hour, 7 day training week in months.

And I come to the realization that endurance sports are the reason I was put on this earth.
Give me a bike, a lake, a trail, a mountain...anything, and people who are all about it, too. There's something so rewarding about being around people who are outdoors-oriented.
Nothing is negative. No one bitches about the weather, or the economy, or their lack of whatever it is they want.
They rave about the workout, the scenery, or the new shoes they just bought.

I've underestimated the power of training with others.
I somehow forgot that training with someone as fit or stronger than you makes you harder.
We skied last night for an hour, trading leads. After the workout was done, we both revealed that there were times that each of us was ready to puke, but neither of us was willing to let on at the time.
You just don't get that kind of workout by yourself.

I am already more physically fit than I was probably all last year. Now, the goal is not to let it slip...not get stupid, do some superman stuff, and end up injured.
I would say my mental fitness is strong, but that doesn't correspond to ultra mental fitness.
Can I keep my mind quiet past the 6-hour mark at this point? I doubt it.
I won't even go to the 24, 30 or 45 hour mark. Yikes.

Less than 7 months out from the Triple, I know how much work there is to be done.
I won't hesitate to admit than I am scared, but it's a good scared, like right before jumping off a cliff into deep water.

There's a major journey ahead, it's going to be highlighted by a lot of amazing feats I never thought possible a few years ago. Where will this ultra-life take me? What will I be doing next year? What will be possible 10 years from now, when I'm at an Ultra-distance peak?

"Never stop exploring. If you aren't constantly pushing yourself, you're leading a numb existence."-Dean Karnazes

Reporting For Duty

It's a sunny tuesday morning here in Presque Isle.
There's no doubt in my mind that Spring is only a few weeks away.
I'm kind of sad to see winter go. Typically around this time of March, I'm raring to get on my bike and start a new season, but I'm enjoying winter in the county. The skiing is absolutely phenomenal, and for once in my life, I've found a network of people that are amazing to train with.
Pretty much on any given day, I can call someone up and go skiing, biking, running, or swimming. And everyone is awesome.

Race Report
Von, Jon, and I traveled downstate on March 1st to give the first-ever Maine Winter Triathlon a go.
It consisted of a 4k Snowshoe/10k Bike/6K Skate Ski.
We kind of decided to do it on a whim. Von and I had only run on snowshoes a couple of times, and it actually proved to be one of the hardest legs of the race. I had all I could do to keep my heart rate from going through the roof, so when I got to the bike, it was pretty much damage control.
I tried to push the red-line as much as I could without going into debt, knowing the ski was to follow. I got off the bike in 6th overall.
I hoped I could make some ground up, knowing that fewer people can skate ski as well as bike and run. It's a much more technical sport.
I skied for most of the 6K by myself. In the last kilometer, I was rewarded by the sight of 2 athletes skiing slowly up the hill ahead. I passed the first one quickly, but the other guy heard me coming and wasn't exactly willing to let me overtake him.
He shot off like a rocket, and I had to go to the well to stay with him.

On the homestretch, I skied on his tails, but he wouldn't let me pass, so I pulled into the tracks on the right and double-poled past him, just in time to cross the finish line in 4th overall.
It was a really great day. I think we're going to go down and do the whole New England Series next year. It's a great way to stay in a triathlon frame of mind in the off-season without getting burned out mentally.

Training Report
My training last week was not ideal. I just felt tired. Perhaps it was after-effects from the race. I only trained for 3.75 hours, and took 4 days completely off. I think I just needed to recharge my batteries a little bit. I have those weeks here and there.
When doing high volume training at a low intensity, you tend to not realize how tired you are until it hits you all at once.

Right now, I'm just working on getting to a place in my training where I can do a 6 hour training day with no issues- ie: IT band, Achilles, and Quadriceps tendon.

Realistically, I am about 3-4 weeks away from that. Once I achieve that aerobic and biomechanical base, I can start putting longer days back to back, which will happen midsummer. After that, I can start putting LONG days in- 10, 12, 14 hour workouts...and working on my sleep-deprivation training...yay.

The day is calling, and it's telling me the weather is perfect for a run today...maybe even minus the tights.

I'm signing off, quoting an old aquaintence, Damien, who just happens to be the World Bench Press Champion(181 lbs, and benches 605!!)..."Ain't nuthin' to it but do it!".

Awesome.

Kale

The Introduction

Wow.
The first entry to a new blog.
This is the first blog I've ever dedicated solely to training and racing.

While the goal of this blog is to document my exploits in training to become the youngest male ever to finish the Virginia Triple Ironman, I'd prefer to keep some sort of human element to it.
In short, I'd like to focus less on endurance-geek jargon, and more on glorifying the ultra-fitness lifestyle. That is...if you can glamorize drooling on yourself as you scuff your feet from aid station to aid station, craving V8 mixed with Powerade and raw potatoes dipped in salt, smelling like a gangrenous donkey.

I would like to state this first and foremost. I am an average dude.
I used to love talking up my training, and bragging about distances I'd run or how fast I'd ridden my bike, and this was pre-Ironman....so really, I was just running my mouth. There were plenty of people's Grandmothers who were more badass than me.
And then I started Ultras.

Ultra-distance events humble you. If you are loud-mouthed, they will quiet you. If you are not confident, they will build you up upon finishing. In short, they might be the best therapy in the world.

After I finished my first event, a 40 Mile Run, I didn't call everyone I knew to brag that I had run 40 miles. I had come face to face with myself, and knew that there was no turning back. I wasn't doing it to impress anyone. It was for me. It was me.

I need this Triple Ironman. It presents more than a physical and mental challenge for me.
Discipline and injury prevention has never been more important than for this event.
I trained pretty loosely for my 40 and 50 mile runs, and my training for Ironman was a joke.
This event scares me enough to force me into yoga, stretching, and early morning training.
Knowing that I finished these events on minimal training gives me confidence that I can apply myself and finish this monster.

Sleep deprivation will also be a new factor for me. The Triple requires two full nights without sleep. I will be on the bike for the entire first night, and running through the next. In short, I will see three, count 'em...three sunrises during this race.

The line is fine between enthusiastic and neurotic, and maybe I've crossed it....but before you make that judgment, you may want to run a mile in my shoes....or 100....

I'll leave you with this quote from David Blaikie of Ultramarathon Canada:
"It makes no sense in a world of space ships and supercomputers to run vast distances on foot. There is no money in it and no fame, frequently not even the approval of peers. But as poets, apostles and philosophers have insisted from the dawn of time, there is more to life than logic and common sense. The ultra runners know this instinctively. And they know something else that is lost on the sedentary. They understand, perhaps better than anyone, that the doors to the spirit will swing open with physical effort. In running such long and taxing distances, they answer a call from the deepest realms of their being -- a call that asks who they are."

Happy Trails!

kp